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How we grow, process, transport, market, prepare, and dispose of food is critical to many of the central issues of sustainable living. Over the last decades, factory farming has displaced many small family farms and created several environmental and health issues. Reviving smaller-scale farms, a process that schools might help though their purchasing, could encourage agricultural practices that are more sustainable in terms of the environment, health, and the local economy.

When many of us think of a farm, we envision a place with a red barn, lush green fields, and maybe a few cows or chickens. However, most of the grain, produce, meat, and dairy products sold today in the U.S. come from huge industrial operations. These "factory farms" crowd together tens of thousands of animals or grow miles and miles of a single crop. While touted as more efficient than small, family farms, industrial-sized farms create a number of environmental, health, and economic effects that ultimately make them unsustainable.

Poultry and livestock raised in factory farms produce enormous amounts of waste, more than the land can properly handle. This waste collects in large manure pools and leaks onto surrounding land. It causes health problems for the animals, workers, and neighbors, and pollutes streams and groundwater. To prevent disease from spreading in the crowded conditions, factory farms regularly feed the animals low doses of antibiotics, which encourages the evolution of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria and poses a public health risk.

Crops grown by industrial agriculture often require large amounts of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, as miles of monocrop fields are susceptible to pests and deplete the soil of nutrients. These chemicals get into the food supply — causing a variety of health issues for people or animals — but also can leach into the soil and pollute nearby water sources.

Industrial-scale farming also affects local economies. These farms often are owned by corporations, and have no economic incentive to support the community. Instead of using local sources for grain, feed, and supplies, the corporations usually get these from distant corporate sources.

In contrast, smaller-scale farms tend to be more sustainable in terms of the environment, health, and the local economy. They are likely to be more diversified than industrial-scale farms. They often produce both crops and livestock, which allow them to cycle nutrients and wastes. Rather than relying on chemicals, they can use natural processes to manage pests and disease and to enrich the soil. Smaller farms are also more likely to support the local community when buying supplies or hiring labor.

To achieve a sustainable society, we must work toward a more sustainable farming and food system. One way to do that is to buy food locally whenever possible. This simple act helps farmers who may be struggling to compete with industrial agriculture. It also prevents farmland from becoming developed and helps to protect open space, flood control, wildlife habitat, and community food security. Transporting food over long distances uses energy and contributes to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Locally grown food is also usually fresher, tastier, and more nutritious than food transported from far away.

Students, farmers, and local communities can benefit when schools procure ingredients grown locally. Farm-to-school programs connect schools and local farms with the objectives of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias; improving student nutrition; providing agriculture, health, and nutrition education opportunities; and supporting local and regional farmers.

Food is so central to human survival and experience that nearly any subject can be integrated through it — science, health, history, social studies, geography, art, economics. Studying farming and food provides an excellent entry point for understanding the interrelations of world issues such as hunger, trade policies, energy use, and climate change. Students can track the source of food in their lunches and calculate the resources and energy needed to bring it to them. They can research what types of food would be available to them if they were to adopt a "hundred-mile diet," eating only food grown within a hundred-mile radius.

Center for Ecoliteracy resources for addressing multiple issues from the perspective of food include the book Big Ideas: Connecting Food, Culture, Health, and the Environment and an online visual guide, which both provide conceptual frameworks for an integrated curriculum on food and health. The Center has also created a teacher's guide to the film Food, Inc.